Remembering Firaq Gorakhpuri, The Urdu Poet Known For His Timeless Creations – News18

India is a land that has always produced prolific personalities. Firaq Gorakhpuri is another such personality who was known for his knowledge of Hindi, English, and Urdu literature. He had a keen interest in poetry and was quite popular as well. A popular saying about him was, “Only two and a half men know English in India. First comes Firaq, the other is Dr S Radhakrishnan (the second President of India) and (Jawaharlal) Nehru being the half.” Firaq Gorakhpuri’s real name was Raghupati Sahay. He was born in 1896 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. He was a very educated man, and he completed his masters in Urdu, English, and Persian literature. Firaq had always developed an interest in literature and was quite fond of Urdu poetry as well. Apart from that, he also appeared for the Provincial Civil Service (PCS) exam and even cleared it. Firaq Gorakhpuri decided to resign from the job as he wanted to be a part of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement. Reportedly, he was also jailed for almost 18 months for protesting against the British government.

Later, he joined in as an English professor at Allahabad University. This was the same period when he wrote a lot of Urdu poetry. His writings were versatile, and people enjoyed reading them. Firaq Gorakhpuri wrote Gul-e-Naghma, which became a popular poetry collection. He was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1969, which is the oldest and highest literary award in India. Firaq Gorakhpuri was also awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu in 1960 and the Padma Bhushan in 1968. He was also the producer-emeritus at All India Radio. Another legend of Urdu literature, Josh Malihabadi, had described Firaq Gorakhpuri as the greatest Urdu poet after Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib.

Firaq Gorakhpuri is a legend in Urdu literature in India. He passed away in 1982 after battling a long-term illness. His biography, titled Firaq Gorakhpuri: The Poet of Pain and Ecstasy, was published in 2015 and was written by his nephew, Ajai Mansingh.